Posted by Bossip Staff
According to Livesteez, the oldest brother/man in the U.S. died on Saturday in Sacramento. Luckily, he had a chance to see one of the greatest feats ever – a black President being elected…you know he voted:
The oldest man in the United States died over the weekend in a Sacramento, CA nursing home. George Francis, a 112-year old African American man, reportedly succumbed to congestive heart failure on Saturday. “He lived four years in the 19th century, 100 years in the 20th century, and eight years in the 21st century. We call him the man of three centuries,” said Anthony Francis, the centenarian’s 81-year-old son. “We always attributed his longevity to his mental and physical toughness,” his added. Indeed, Francis, who was born in New Orleans, LA in 1896 must have developed tenacity. Coming into the world just a generation after Reconstruction, then growing to adulthood in the deep Jim Crow south, would seemingly require as much from a black man. Those of us from more recent generations can scarcely imagine the vast changes a 112-year lifetime would behold. Technologically, we live in an entirely different world from that of 1896. And on the political front we seen some major strides. According to an LA Times report, Francis was always politically active. He voted for Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s and this fall he cast his vote to elect Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States.
In an interview after Obama’s victory, a wheelchair-bound Francis said he felt like jumping up and down. “For people who say voting doesn’t matter, I think that’s crazy,” he said.
We appreciate the struggles this man and many others of his time had to endure to make all of this possible, and we will never forget it.
R.I.P.
Comments
Bossip Comment Policy
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.